THE EMPEROR JONES | Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and the Boston Center for the Arts present this script-in-hand reading of Eugene Neill's fable about Brutus Jones, an African-American who becomes emperor on an island in the West Indies, where, like any ruler, he passes laws and levies taxes and forfeits the good will of his subjects. With Will Lyman as the Narrator and Will Lebow as Smithers; Akiba Abaka directs. | Boston Center for the Arts Roberts Studio Theatre, 527 Tremont St, Boston |http://commshakes.org| March 1 | Curtain 7 pm | free

PHANTOM OF THE OPRAH | That title has Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans written all over it, so you won't be surprised to learn that the mighty Afrodite stars as "The Phantom" and the "internationally known singing sensation Miss Varla Jean Merman" plays Christine — unless you were expecting it to be the other way around. Elements of "burlesque, vaudeville, silent movies, Broadway musicals, rock operas, and television" are promised, along with original music, long-lost rock anthems and some very popular standards." Book and lyrics are by, yes, Ryan Landry; Larry Coen directs. | Machine, 1254-1256 Boylston St, Boston |www.golddustorphans.com| February 26–March 28 | Curtain 8 pm Fri-Sat | 5 pm Sun | $35-$45

LIGHT WAVES: BOSTON BALLET'S ''ALL KYLIÁN'' | March 13, 2013 A dead tree hanging upside down overhead, with a spotlight slowly circling it. A piano on stilts on one side of the stage, an ice sculpture's worth of bubble wrap on the other.

HANDEL AND HAYDN'S PURCELL | February 04, 2013 Set, rather confusingly, in Mexico and Peru, the 1695 semi-opera The Indian Queen is as contorted in its plot as any real opera.

REVIEW: MAHLER ON THE COUCH | November 27, 2012 Mahler on the Couch , from the father-and-son directing team of Percy and Felix Adlon, offers some creative speculation, with flashbacks detailing the crisis points of the marriage and snatches from the anguished first movement of Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony.